Opening Hours, Holidays and Festivals
During the week, general office hours are from 8am to 4.30 or 5pm, but it's worth remembering that some smaller places may close for an hour at lunchtime and shut around 3pm on Fridays. Aside from shops and tourist offices, which have the most varied of opening hours (see below), the most obvious exceptions are museums, which are almost always closed on Mondays. Otherwise, opening times are affected by public holidays, when most things shut down - museums have opening times that vary according to the holiday, and are not reliably open; we've given a list of holidays. Shops are generally open Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm, although many shops in the capital, plus the larger shopping centres, have longer opening hours. In addition, most shopping centres now open for a few hours on Sundays. Supermarkets and grocery stores open from 7 or 8am to 7 or 8pm, but again expect longer opening hours in the larger centres. In Budapest and larger towns there are numerous 24-hour shops - the signs to look for are Non-Stop, 0-24 or Ejjel-Nappali. Post offices in most places are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturdays 8am to 1pm, although in larger towns and cities, these hours may be an hour or two longer. Conversely, those in smaller towns and villages typically close at 4pm. Most banks open Monday to Thursday from 8am to 3pm or 4pm, and on Fridays until 1pm or 2pm. Pharmacy opening hours are normally Monday to Friday 9am to 6 or 7pm and Saturdays 9am to noon or 1pm; signs in the window give the location or telephone number of the nearest all-night ( ejjeli or ugyeleti szolgalat ) pharmacy. Of all the institutions, tourist offices have the most convoluted opening hours with inevitable and wide-ranging differences between the summer and winter periods. Summer opening times (typically June to September) are, generally speaking, weekdays 8am to 6 or 7pm and weekends 10am to 4 or 5pm, and during the winter Monday to Friday only from 9am to 4 or 5pm. However, many offices deviate from these hours; opening hours for all offices are detailed throughout the guide. Museums are generally open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm (winter 9 or 10am to 4pm, or earlier), but there are many exceptions; current hours are detailed in the guide. As public subsidies are withdrawn, many of the smaller museums may close down altogether over winter. Hungary's thermal baths are usually open daily from 8 or 9am to 6 or 7pm, although some open at 6am - as most of the baths in Budapest do.
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